‘New dispensation must bring change’-Citizens, politicians

In pursuit of unlocking the full potential of Zimbabwe as an economically stable country, citizens of Zimbabwe and politicians met to discuss Mugabe’s post era and his leadership so that they could craft a way forward to build a better nation by giving their opinions which they want President Emmerson Mnangagwa to embrace as he take over leadership in the new dispensation.

Different opinions were brought up in a dialogue which was held by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) on the 25th of January 2108 at New Ambassador Hotel with panellists including Dr Nkosana Moyo, Former Industry and International Trade Minister, Douglas Mwonzora, Movement for Democratic Change Secretary General and Lovemore Kadenge of Zimbabwe Economic Society.

The discussion’s topic was: “Post Mugabe dispensation in assessment and projection as well as assessing whether President Mnangagwa promises are real.

Addressing the citizens, Mr Lovemore Kadenge said President Mnangagwa reflects a man who is committed to transform a fragile state of the country and meet expectations and demands of the people.

Kadenge urged the President to fulfil his promises as mentioned in his inauguration speech on the 24th of November 2017.

“We all know that President is in Davos and he said positive things there so what do the future represent, are the promises going to be fulfilled? President Mnangagwa speech represent a political respond and this can be witnessed as he and the First Lady are toiling day and night to bring positivity in the country.

“Promises of the President can be seen that they are not in vain as we can witness that police road blocks are no longer there and fuel has reduced price, if he stick to His 100-day targets it will therefore boost the confidence of the majority.

“Kadenge added that it is true that Zimbabwe is in a transition and urged citizens to build strong pillars of democratic governance, creating of new environment for alignment of laws which will facilitate conflict resolution and bring peace,” he said.

He also said that President Mnangagwa will deliver economic growth regardless of the past as he wants a clean balance sheet for himself.

He said if Zanu-PF is prepared to lead it must be a party which embrace democracy, transparency and accountability.

Douglas Mwonzora said leaders are judged based on their historical evidence. He said Mugabe’s speech when he was sworn in as the president was started by a brilliant-famous speech but there after none of the promises were fulfilled.

In light of this, Mwonzora urged President Mnangagwa to stick by his words and avoid the mistakes which were made earlier before by the former president and led to the destruction of the country.

“Promise must be judged by performance so as to see achievement. President Mnangagwa on the 24th of November 2017 promised poverty eradication, free and fair elections, creation of employment among other positive things but is this a reality?”

“To show his difference with Mugabe, President Mnangagwa must be a catalyser for unity, ensure that a citizen’s vote is secured and bring external board such as UN, AU and SADC to overview our elections, as well as making sure that violence and intimidation must become a talk of the past,” he said.

Mwonzora alluded to the fact that a lot needs to be done to attract investment so as to eradicate poverty. He urged the new government to stop a blame game and said as MDC-T they encourage for fixing problems and like forward on building of a brighter future for the nation.

Dr Nkosana Moyo emphasised that there was need for people of Zimbabwe to understand what they need and how they want to be lead. He urged citizens to take ownership, include everybody and stop blaming others

“We need to do a diagnostic that where are we as a country and it’s important to understand where we came from as well as where do we want to be. A topic suggest that we want a future that is better but is us who create it by plotting a way forward.

“The culture we live in promotes nepotism so if we want to uplift our nation there is need also to redefine everything and those who cause corruption must be punished so as to create legitimacy,” he said.

Other participants who attended the dialogue suggested that it was important to give President Mnangagwa time to transform the country and learn to trust his words. Some said in as far as the prospects of nation’s future are concerned, politicians should unify to help them focus on the same aspirations.

The Mass Public Institute Opinion Institute (MPOI) was established in 1999 as a research trust or a non-governmental organisation which is meant to undertake, publish and discuss research on salient political and socio-economic issues that impact on development of Zimbabwe.